2011 New Release Database

[dreamdead]

Rango - nay (just slight and tedious throughout - Depp's role felt too much like a caricature of earlier roles he's played)

[transmogrifier]

It's funny, I had a mild yay for Rango, but I'm glad someone has finally nayed it, because it's hardly a 100% world-beater.

[TGM]

Rango - nay (just slight and tedious throughout - Depp's role felt too much like a caricature of earlier roles he's played)

Damn, the first nay. Well, it had a good run, at least!

[dreamdead]

Wow, I wasn't aware of the Rango consensus. It feels like the kind of film that could rake in lots of mild yays on the sake of its weirdness alone and I almost went that route, but there's just not enough narrative ingenuity to temper the I've-seen-this-before vibe out of the themes and content. I like the character designs, though. Just wish it had more of the wit that it so clearly thinks it has.

[Ezee E]

Dreamdead is the new Melville.

[Henry Gale]

I was fairly mild in my praise of Rango the first time I saw it, but it's one of those rare times where a second viewing (and surprisingly, I think it was the Extended Cut) drastically improved my opinion of a movie. It was so significantly funnier, more exciting, more thematically layered, and just so much more entertaining overally, I was shocked.

It now sits firmly in my Top 10 of 2011.

[Henry Gale]

Oh, and:

Another Earth - Nay
The Artist - Yay
The Descendants - big Yay
Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - Nay
The Help - a surprising Yay

I feel like this year's blatant Oscar contenders have been genuinely better than most years, and not just in a "oh I can see why the academy loves that" sort of way". War Horse is the only one I've yet to see, but otherwise I've really enjoyed every other potential BP nominee.

[Watashi]

Yeah, Rango rules.

[Boner M]

Change my Tinker nay to a yay. Second viewing really changed things.

Also change my yay on Shame to a nay, only the annoying bits have stuck with me over time.

[eternity]

Change my yay for Shame to a nay as well. Crimmany.

[Bosco B Thug]

Dayummm. This is what Shame gets for showing off. And for being about cocks and that's it.

[Pop Trash]

Dayummm. This is what Shame gets for showing off. And for being about cocks and that's it.

Um yeah. Or not.

[Pop Trash]

The Artist - eh mild yay I suppose. I feel like an asshole if I 'nay' it.

Mostly it made me think about what a genius marketer Harvey Weinstein is. How he got a silent obscure French comedy to be the BP frontrunner is unbelievable. Oh, and the hotness of Berenice Bejo.

[EyesWideOpen]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - YAY

[Rowland]

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 - yay

I have issues with some of the choices made in terms of representation and structure, but enough of this footage is so searing that I can't deny its overall power and worth.

[EyesWideOpen]

Looks like you missed my yay for Beats Rhyme and Life and my nay for Don't Be Afraid of the Dark.

[Ivan Drago]

Into The Abyss - YAY
Shame - YAY

[Lazlo]

Buck - Yay

[Lucky]

Contagion - yay

[Pop Trash]

Fright Night - mild nay

Entertaining, but not much else. I'm a bit perplexed by the love this is getting on here. Also: Chris Sarandon > Colin Farrell.

[Gizmo]

never done this, but here goes:

50/50- YAY
A Separation- YAY
Artist, The- YAY
Bridesmaids- yay
Captain America: The First Avenger- nay
Cars 2- tiny nay
Contagion- yay
Hangover 2, The- NAY
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt. 2- Yay
Help, The- YAY
Horrible Bosses- nay
Moneyball- YAY
Muppets, The- yay
No Strings Attached- nay
Puss in Boots- nay
Rango- yay
Rise of the Planet of the Apes-yay
Scream 4- NAY
Soul Surfer- yay
Super 8- yay
The Descendants- YAY
Thor- nay
Transformers Dark of the Moon- NAY
Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Pt. 1- NAY
Winnie the Pooh- nay
X-Men: First Class- nay
Your Highness- NAY

[Boner M]

Myth of the American Sleepover - nay

Oh just get laid already you boring wusses.

[EyesWideOpen]

The Ides of March - YAY

[kopello]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - nay

Kind of a disappointment. I couldn't help but feel that the film thinks it's smarter than it actually is. It tells the story in a roundabout way to finally reveal its conclusion, which would be fine if it was actually compelling throughout (it wasn't). I'll also echo some of the thoughts in the thread, that these characters are essentially robots. Alfredson seems to want the audience to understand and connect with these characters, which I found hard to do.

[Bosco B Thug]

Um yeah. Or not. I was mostly being facetious. I knew I was giving it the small penis. I mean, short shrift. :cool:


Albert Nobbs - nay

It's actually a rather somber, sad film. I went in expecting a turn-of-the-century Mrs. Doubtfire but instead Glenn Close offers us an admirably small performance of a tragically stunted person. Quite admirable. Movie is generic and even bad, though.

[Rowland]

So I was all inspired to watch Sucker Punch after noting its appearance on several year end lists by prominent critics, hoping I would be another of its defenders. So then I watched it and was all oh, never mind.

Sucker Punch - Nay

[Stay Puft]

Project Nim - yay

Maintains an overly simplistic attitude towards Nim (there's talk about understanding apes, about what makes them similar and different from humans, but the film keeps those sort of boundaries rather fuzzy for the sake of dramatic sentiment), but still works as an engaging journey through human arrogance and ignorance and folly. The film is wisely nonjudgmental in some cases, and gives the interview subjects room to speak for themselves, though again I would have liked it to go a step further in considering some of the conflicting arguments, and an unsubtle musical score and series of re-enactments only serve to muddle the thesis (e.g. dramatizing Nim being taken from his mother is functionally anthropomorphization, and pretty tacky to boot with that POV shot of the tranq dart).

[EyesWideOpen]

The Future - mild nay

Quite a disappointment since I was a big fan of her other film.

[Stay Puft]

Senna - yay

The block of film dealing with the rivalry between Senna and Prost, specifically how it was playing out during the Japanese Grands Prix, was crazy intense. Some excellent editing, for sure (though I wasn't fond of some of the minor stylistic flourishes elsewhere, like freeze framing or manipulating the speed of the footage, but that's a quibble).

[Stay Puft]

Also, I see you put me down as a nay for Tabloid but I voted a yay. Enjoyed that one.

[Rowland]

Also, I see you put me down as a nay for Tabloid but I voted a yay. Enjoyed that one.Wow, I'm surprised that only five of us have seen it so far, especially considering that it's the latest by someone as high-profile as Errol Morris. Most documentaries, besides those few each year that receive an inordinate amount of press/buzz, are unfairly ignored.

[EyesWideOpen]

I just noticed you have Albert Nobbs as Albert Noobs. I like that.

You have Winston down for ARRIETTY and that is officially a 2012 release now so you can delete that one.

[NickGlass]

Dayummm. This is what Shame gets for showing off. And for being about cocks and that's it.

Yay for people ultimately realizing that Shame is hollow.

[Stay Puft]

Wow, I'm surprised that only five of us have seen it so far, especially considering that it's the latest by someone as high-profile as Errol Morris. Most documentaries, besides those few each year that receive an inordinate amount of press/buzz, are unfairly ignored.

Indeed. I was just as surprised to see that only three (or now four) of us have seen Project Nim. I thought that was about as high profile as they come for docs in 2011 (barring guys like Morris and Herzog I guess).


I just noticed you have Albert Nobbs as Albert Noobs. I like that.

I also noticed that, and didn't say anything because I didn't want him to change it.

[StanleyK]

War Horse- nay

The first Spielberg I see in theaters also happens to be his worst movie yet :(

[Rowland]

L'amour Fou - nay

[Watashi]

War Horse- nay

The first Spielberg I see in theaters also happens to be his worst movie yet :(

What? Not even close.

[dreamdead]

Midnight in Paris - mild yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Pariah - huge YAY

[Thirdmango]

Killer Elite - Nay

[Lazlo]

Shame - Yay

[StanleyK]

What? Not even close.

It's about tied with Always for me, but I think that one wins on the virtue of a couple of memorable shots (which are sustained for an admirably long time), whereas I doubt anything will stick to my memory as a positive in War Horse. Or who knows, it may just be a first viewing knee-jerk reaction. But I did really hate it.

[baby doll]

War Horse- nay

The first Spielberg I see in theaters also happens to be his worst movie yet :(It sounds like you don't get out much.

[TripZone]

I can't bring myself to watch The Color Purple, Always, or Amistad. Maybe that last one. Though I enjoyed 1941. He couldn't possibly get worse than his Twilight Zone short.

[StanleyK]

It sounds like you don't get out much.

No, he just hasn't been very prolific these last few years.


He couldn't possibly get worse than his Twilight Zone short.

True that.

[Watashi]

No, he just hasn't been very prolific these last few years.


He made one film in the last 5 years prior to 2011 and that was an Indiana Jones sequel.

[Watashi]

It's about tied with Always for me, but I think that one wins on the virtue of a couple of memorable shots (which are sustained for an admirably long time), whereas I doubt anything will stick to my memory as a positive in War Horse. Or who knows, it may just be a first viewing knee-jerk reaction. But I did really hate it.
War Horse has far more striking scenes (the windmill scene, no man's land, the ending) than the entirety of Crystal Skull.

[StanleyK]

War Horse has far more striking scenes (the windmill scene, no man's land, the ending) than the entirety of Crystal Skull.

The windmill shot was gag-worthy. Anyway I kinda liked the diner scene in Crystal Skull so nope.

[Watashi]

The windmill shot was gag-worthy. Anyway I kinda liked the diner scene in Crystal Skull so nope.
I don't think you know what you are saying.

Maybe this is why you think getting a D is a passing grade.

[Bosco B Thug]

Cold Fish - yay

I'm not terribly offended by it, surprisingly. Similarly to Melancholia, I respond greatly to films with a nihilistic view of things, and the narrative's uncompromising moral entropy, tied to its ultimate thematic worldview about life's quagmire and terrible people leading terrible lives, makes it resonant more than repugnant. Not to mention I found it compulsively watchable, with many an interesting Sono moment or free-narrative inspiration.

Still, it's a crass, distracted picture that swerves around in "take from it what you will" fashion that understandably troubled many, including myself in selected parts.

[Dukefrukem]

Albert Nobbs yay

[Rowland]

Cold Fish - yay

I'm not terribly offended by it, surprisingly. Similarly to Melancholia, I respond greatly to films with a nihilistic view of things, and the narrative's uncompromising moral entropy, tied to its ultimate thematic worldview about life's quagmire and terrible people leading terrible lives, makes it resonant more than repugnant. Not to mention I found it compulsively watchable, with many an interesting Sono moment or free-narrative inspiration.

Still, it's a crass, distracted picture that swerves around in "take from it what you will" fashion that understandably troubled many, including myself in selected parts.Yeah, as a Sono fan myself, I wasn't so much offended as I was merely enervated by it. I didn't find the material or what it had to say all that involving or illuminating enough to justify its epic length, and for the first time that shrill tone Sono seems to actively encourage in most of his films really began to grate on my nerves. Still, I found it watchable enough, and with enough inspired Sono touches, to justify a weak two-star rating.

[EyesWideOpen]

Yeah, as a Sono fan myself, I wasn't so much offended as I was merely enervated by it. I didn't find the material or what it had to say all that involving or illuminating to justify its epic length, and for the first time that shrill tone Sono seems to actively encourage in most of his films really began to grate on my nerves. Still, I found it watchable enough, and with enough inspired Sono touches, to justify a weak two-star rating.

I think you're confusing Love Exposure with Cold Fish. That's the one with the epic length.

[Rowland]

I think you're confusing Love Exposure with Cold Fish. That's the one with the epic length.Two and a half hours is a pretty epic length, or at least it feels so while watching everyone crawl around shrieking during Cold Fish.

[Watashi]

Bellflower - nay

What an obnoxious movie.

[Derek]

Yay for people ultimately realizing that Shame is hollow.

Nay for people whose shallow criticisms must be endlessly repeated for a film that already has its fair share of detractors here.


Bellflower - nay

What an obnoxious movie.

Yeah, complete shite. It's a Boondock Saints for the 10s.

[Rowland]

It's a Boondock Saints for the 10s.:|

[Watashi]

:|
When I realized that all that fake dirt on the lens wasn't going away, I knew I would hate this movie. Unpleasant all around.

[Rowland]

When I realized that all that fake dirt on the lens wasn't going away, I knew I would hate this movie. Unpleasant all around.I have no problem with people hating the movie, I was just responding to Derek's bewildering analogy.

[Pop Trash]

Nay for people whose shallow criticisms must be endlessly repeated for a film that already has its fair share of detractors here.


Glenn Kenny's A/V Club rebuke of the Shamelash might be of interest to you:

http://www.avclub.com/articles/shame-and-snickering,67473/

I'm still not a big fan of it.

[kopello]

Poetry - yay
Contagion - yay

I think you may have skipped over my yays for these.

[Bosco B Thug]

Two and a half hours is a pretty epic length, or at least it feels so while watching everyone crawl around shrieking during Cold Fish. Yeah, I was pretty shocked when I saw it was 2 1/2 hours, but it's nice and episodic and moves like a TV drama. It's not like watching Strange Circus for 2 1/2 hours, which would've been exhausting. I'm pretty sure Noriko's Dinner Table feels like this - a sprawling plot and lo-fi cinematography - and it's also 3 hours. Sono makes them worthwhile, though.

[Henry Gale]

Happy Feet Two - yay

Yeah, you guys were right. Not sure what critics or the general public wanted out of this otherwise. But it just might have been the timing because I was a big fan of the first one, but whether it was it being five years later or simply last year's crowded November, I didn't have much of an urge to watch it until now.

Either way, it's a beautifully odd little gem.

[Weeping_Guitar]

Restless - nay
Real Steel - yay
Another Happy Day - yay
50/50 - Yay

[Lazlo]

Fright Night - Yay

[Rowland]

The Help - nay

Not surprised by Howard being terrible, was surprised by Chastain also being terrible.

[EyesWideOpen]

The Help - nay

Not surprised by Howard being terrible, was surprised by Chastain also being terrible.

That was Chastains best performance of the year.

[Pop Trash]

That was Chastains best performance of the year.

Ugh. Hellz no.

[Pop Trash]

Not surprised by Howard being terrible, was surprised by Chastain also being terrible.

I think the actors (esp. the white ones) were poorly directed. I really hated that movie.

[NickGlass]

I think the actors (esp. the white ones) were poorly directed. I really hated that movie.

Yeah, the film doesn't even know what to do with Emma Stone's main white character. I like Stone as a personality and all, but I constantly wanted her and her horrific subplots off the screen.

I thought Chastain was fun, though. Over-the-top, but in the right way.

[TGM]

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - Nay

The movie has moments of brilliance that really have me wanting to like this movie. Yet these moments are few and far between, and are almost always cut short by something so cringe-worthy that it immediately reminds me that I'm watching a really bad movie. It's just obnoxious, really, and the kid actor they got for this is pretty terrible, too. In a year with movies such as Super 8 and Hugo, where the kid actors manage to act so natural, it's just a shame to see a movie based entirely around this little shit who you can barely stomach to spend 5 minutes with, let alone two fucking hours.

[StanleyK]

The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn- yay.

[Irish]

50/50 - yay

[Irish]

Catching up:

Crazy Stupid Love - enormous NAY
Pure shit. God, what a waste of an absolutely all star cast.

Everything Must Go - yay
Minor story problems aside (it's a little too predictable and rote at times), worth watching to see Will Farrell excel at yet another dramatic performance.

Friends with Benefits - yay, because fuck you guys
Solidly built throwaway romcom with problematic stars. I've never believed Timberlake in anything outside Alpha Dog and The Social Network. Kunis has such a well scrubbed, youthful beauty that she always appears as if she's just stepped from the frames of a Noxema commercial. It's difficult not to get pulled into the gravitational force of her charmisa, much less believe the she's supposed to be playing a wildly neurotic New York Yuppie.

Fast Five - yay
I remember almost nothing about this, except that it was fun seeing the band get back together. Inoffensive sequel, which considering the average out there and that this is the fifth go round, is high praise.

Hanna - nay
Amazing opening act that immediately turns into a third rate Cold War style thriller. Kate Blanchett has never been worse -- she's practically channeling Natasha from Bullwinkle -- but the girl in the lead is a keeper.

[Dukefrukem]

A SEPARATION - YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Dukefrukem]

The Help - nay

Not surprised by Howard being terrible, was surprised by Chastain also being terrible.

Please explain Howard being terrible. .

[Rowland]

Please explain Howard being terrible. .She utterly fails to transcend her garishly one-note caricature beyond the level of a cartoon villainess.

[Dukefrukem]

She utterly fails to transcend her garishly one-note caricature beyond the level of a cartoon villainess.

So you're blaming the acting or the writing of her character?

They needs to be a villain in the story either exactly like her, or more in quantity for the theme of the movie to work. Otherwise you’re just watching a book being written with no possible conflicts or consequences.

[Pop Trash]

She utterly fails to transcend her garishly one-note caricature beyond the level of a cartoon villainess.

This is entirely true, but again I would put the blame more on poor script/direction.

[Rowland]

Her character is written to be an obscenely over-the-top caricature, more so than most of the characters in the film, few of whom are imbued with much in the way of nuance, but hers is the most egregious, and while she plays that character to its boo-and-hiss-able hilt, I'd have liked her to have at least attempted to sketch a real human being, last-scene faux-humility notwithstanding. She's the film's chick flick straw man, so while most of the blame probably does lay with Taylor, that doesn't make her grotesque performance any more tolerable, especially when it's couched within a film preaching tolerance.

[EyesWideOpen]

War Horse - yay

[Irish]

Attack the Block - regretful nay

I admire some of the craft that went into this, but man what a trivial, unnecessary movie.

[Ivan Drago]

The Artist - YAY

[Winston*]

Hugo - Yay

There's an cartoon from the nineties called The Pagemaster where the whole message over the 90 minutes is how great books are, which is a message a child can get much clearer from an actual book. Hugo kind of reminded of that but for silent films. However, a child living in the 21st century probably isn't going to enjoy A Trip to the Moon, so maybe experiencing it one step removed through this film is the best possible outcome.

I liked Sasha Baron Cohen in this.

[Dukefrukem]

CONAN - nay, but at least it's better than Arnold's

[Derek]

CONAN - nay, but at least it's better than Arnold's

Does a camel get punched (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6spGcj6fty8) in this one? Because if not, I don't see how that's possible.

[dreamdead]

Attack the Block - Nay

[Watashi]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - yay

Finally, a movie that puts the "cold" in Cold War. I do agree that a lot of the secondary characters in the circus become indistinguishable, but the beauty is in the shot composition and individual moments. I think a second viewing where I'm not wondering who is who will be more rewarding.

[Dukefrukem]

Does a camel get punched (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6spGcj6fty8) in this one? Because if not, I don't see how that's possible.

:lol: No actually. That doesn't occur and yes that's the best part of the movie.

[Lazlo]

50/50 - Yay

[B-side]

A Dangerous Method - yay

[Irish]

The Guard - yay

Struggles in the second act but Brendan Gleeon & a lot of wry humor make the show.

[Rowland]

Viva Riva! - mild nay

[Lazlo]

Paradise Lost 3: Purgatory - Yay

[Lucky]

Sucker Punch - nay (my new worst of the year)
Limitless - nay

[Ezee E]

Caught up.

REP for Raiders for the new approach!

[EyesWideOpen]

Missing my Yay for Pariah.

[EyesWideOpen]

Four Times - nay

[Lazlo]

A Better Life - Yay.

Pretty good movie, though it's a rather standard riff on Bicycle Thieves. I guess the Academy nominated Bichir to try to score political points or seem topical. It's a fine, fine performance but he's got nothing on Shannon or Fassbender.

[Henry Gale]

Take Shelter - big yay

One of 2011's best. Glad I saw it in time to pull for Shannon and Chastain for the Matches, but still find myself wishing I'd seen it sooner. Sony Pictures Classics horrible distribution strikes once again. Still, it's a gut-wrenchingly raw film that finds a haunting way of being mesmerizingly beautiful in unexpected places. It's those two battling emotional ends and points of view of Shannon's character that make it such an uniquely enticing experience.

War Horse - yay

Forgot to vote for this when I saw it a week or so back, which could be seen as telling, but I do think it's an extremely well-made piece, if a fairly simple and sometimes unremarkable one. It helps that it all looks as gorgeous as it does, but beyond that I think it just comes down to how emotionally wrapped up in it you want to get as a viewer. Luckily, I was game.

[Rowland]

Pina - mild yay

The dances (which tend to more closely resemble an eccentric, sometimes inscrutable form of performance art) fascinate and often invigorate in both their conception and execution, the filming is gorgeous, the location scout deserves an award, and the spectrum of performers featured within the film are a striking lot, but their spoken observations are often less than illuminating and more than a little hagiographic, especially when reduced to sound-bite form and lumped together as they are here, while the episodic structure grows increasingly tedious and, unless I'm missing something, appears sequentially arbitrary, playing at times like an erratic greatest-hits compilation.

[Rowland]

Limitless - lol nay

[EyesWideOpen]

The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975 - yay

[Sycophant]

The Artist - yay
The Ides of March - nay

[StanleyK]

A Separation- a flawed yay.

[Lazlo]

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Nope

[Spinal]

The Sleeping Beauty (Breillat) - yay

[B-side]

The Descendants - nay

[Winston*]

Meek's Cutoff - Yay

Though a milder yay than I would give to her other two films.

[TripZone]

A Dangerous Method -yay
Weekend -yay
J. Edgar -yay
The Mill and the Cross -yay
The Artist -absolutely not
The Descendants -nay

[Dukefrukem]

Both YAYs

I Saw The Devil
The Skin I Live In

[NickGlass]

Limitless - lol nay

Oh, it's so hilarious. I only saw half, so I'll refrain from rating, though.

The Iron Lady: Nay

Total camp. I'd be willing to cut it some slack if it wasn't so stridently self-serious. Phyllida Lloyd still doesn't know how to hold a camera, and Abi Morgan's screenplay is as grossly affected and transparent as her Shame script.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close: Nay

9/11 is sad. Asperger's is cute. Got it, Daldry. Emotion porn--with gross money shots.

[Dukefrukem]

Limitless - lol nay

It's nothing special but I liked it. The ending gets a little fuzzy and takes away from the moral of the story, but I still would watch again. I enjoy Cooper in the lead.

[Rowland]

The Interrupters - yay

[Ivan Drago]

The Help - Yay

I didn't see that coming.

[soitgoes...]

Margin Call - a yay for now, but that could easily change in a day or two.

The Guard - yay

[Kiusagi]

The Artist - yay

Shame - yay

Super - nay

Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy - yay

Young Adult - yay

[Rowland]

Our Idiot Brother - very minor yay

The ensemble makes this work, barely, and the credits roll before the 90-minute mark, so yay for brevity!

[Lazlo]

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front - Yay

It's a fine movie, an interesting story, if not necessarily an interesting example of filmmaking. It's almost a slightly more personal 60 Minutes story. For this to be up for Best Documentary in a year when Senna proved to be one of the most transcendent movies of the year and still miss out is shameful. Hopefully whatever fiddling with the qualifying rules they've done will remedy this issue. How hard is it to say, "This movie is a documentary. It played in a theater for a certain amount of time in at least New York or LA between January 1 and December 31. It's eligible."

[Weeping_Guitar]

Drive - YAY
Contagion - yay
Texas Killing Fields - nay

[EyesWideOpen]

Restless - big YAY

[Rowland]

Weekend - Yay

[StanleyK]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- yay

[NickGlass]

HUGO - 21 out of 25
yay - TGM, watashi, eternity, skitch, elixir, NickGlass, kopello, Lazlo, Pop Trash, rightforthemoment, Ezee E, Raiders, EyesWideOpen, Derek, Henry Gale, Isaac, davidseven, Kiusagi, Bosco B Thug, Dreamdead, Winston
nay - Spinal, Yxklyx, Rowland, dukefrukem


Wait, I decided on Yay? Must have been feeling generous that day. Change this to a Nay, please.

[soitgoes...]

The Mill and the Cross - mild yay

More mixed than a yay. Should be seen for the art direction/visual effects, but outside of that I'm not sure there's anything else of real interest... I think. What a strange film. Unusual idea that falls flat, and honestly I'm not sure it should ever have been attempted.

[EyesWideOpen]

Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close - nay

[Stay Puft]

The Arbor - yay

Looking back through this thread, found it amusing that people were smitten by the lip-synching early on but found it strained later. I had the opposite reaction, nearly shutting the film off after the first ten minutes because of how obnoxious and affected it struck me (and it didn't help having the scientist dude from 2012 showing up and doing my head in), but once the focus shifted more to the community and Andrea's children, and the autobiographical/theatrical conceit became more developed (or at least clear to me in its purpose), I was onboard.

Also an incredibly depressing film, though. I kept wanting to escape from it, but found I couldn't.

[Rowland]

Looking back through this thread, found it amusing that people were smitten by the lip-synching early on but found it strained later..It wasn't the lip-synching I was smitten by so much as the shifting in formats, chronology, and what have you. It was a much more meta approach, whereas the latter half settled into a more straightforwardly British, kitchen-sink melodrama dynamic of, as you rightly suggest, overwhelming depression.

[Stay Puft]

Yeah looking again it was just Boner's post that mentioned it specifically, sorry for any general misrepresentation.

I liked the performances of the play in the early parts, but again it was the context of the larger community that really led me to appreciate the approach (the material with A State Affair, looking at The Arbor today through the same medium of performance), though again that's also because I guess I didn't really get the point of it until later so that's when I warmed up to it.

And it ends on such a great note, that archival image of Andrea at the train station with Lorraine (the only time we actually see Lorraine in the film?). My heart was breaking.

(quickly edited as i realized that should probably be in spoiler tags)

[soitgoes...]

50/50 - yay
Le quattro volte - yay
Sherlock Holmes - nay

[MadMan]

30 Minutes Or Less-yay

For a while there, I wasn't sure if I would like it, but then when the movie actually got going, it was funny and entertaining. I'm still waiting for that Zombieland sequel.

[Watashi]

13 Assassins - YAY

No idea why I saw this until now.

[Lazlo]

Real Steel - Yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Win Win - yay

[Acapelli]

Drive - Yay

[Pop Trash]

50/50 -mild yay

Generic filmmaking, but JGL once again saves the day. Angelica Huston and Anna Kendrick were good as well. A little Rogen goes a long way.

[MadMan]

The Help-Nay, but its a rather mixed nay. More thoughts later.

[Dukefrukem]

apollo 18 - NAY

[Pop Trash]

50/50 -mild yay

Generic filmmaking, but JGL once again saves the day. Angelica Huston and Anna Kendrick were good as well. A little Rogen goes a long way.

Change this to a mild nay please. This isn't sitting too well upon reflection.

[soitgoes...]

A Dangerous Method - nay

[Stay Puft]

A Separation - yay

Yeah, I'd say that's one of the best of 2011.

[eternity]

Sanctum - nay nay nay nay nay nay nay nay nay

[Boner M]

50/50 - nay
Warrior - yay

[Weeping_Guitar]

The Artist - YAY

[Dukefrukem]

DESCENDANTS YAY

[Lazlo]

Rio - Yay

[Acapelli]

Bridesmaids - yay

[EyesWideOpen]

50/50 - yay

[Boner M]

In Time - nay

To think what Leos Carax or Wong Kar-wai would've done with this premise.

[Ivan Drago]

Midnight In Paris - YAY

Fuckin' beautiful film.

[Dukefrukem]

WAR HORSE - YAY
GWTDT - YAY

[Stay Puft]

Outrage - yay

A mild yay, however. I appreciate it as a Kitano fan but also have some rather mixed feelings on the overall film.

[Ivan Drago]

Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy - yay

This reminded me of Syriana.

[EyesWideOpen]

A Seperation - so much YAY

[Boner M]

Carnage - nay

But yayayay for Christoph Waltz; so very :lol:

[B-side]

Carnage - nay

But yayayay for Christoph Waltz; so very :lol:

Pretty much.

[TGM]

A Dangerous Method - mild Yay
The Descendants - YAY!

[Ivan Drago]

Life In A Day - Yay

That'll stick with me for a while.

[Boner M]

Crazy, Stupid, Love. - nay

Cloying, Stupid, Long.

[MadMan]

The Artist-Yay
A Very Harold & Kumar 3D Christmas-Yay

[Ivan Drago]

The Descendants - YAY

[TGM]

Midnight in Paris - Yay

[Weeping_Guitar]

The Guard - yay
Nostalgia for the Light - yay

[Spinal]

Once the MC Award nominations come out, I'm going to unstick this thread. OK?

[MadMan]

Sounds good to me.

[EyesWideOpen]

Once the MC Award nominations come out, I'm going to unstick this thread. OK?

Boo. I would much rather these threads stay alive and continue to be updated.

[Spinal]

Boo. I would much rather these threads stay alive and continue to be updated.

The thread would still exist. It just wouldn't be stickied.

[Rowland]

Project Nim - very minor yay

Gripping material in terms of the narrative and its implications, the found footage, as well as the newly recorded interview footage, which is nevertheless hampered significantly by Marsh's own directorial tendencies towards the garish, literal, and sentimental. There is some wannabe-Morris schtick at its worst here.

[Derek]

Project Nim - very minor yay

Gripping material in terms of the narrative and its implications, the found footage, as well as the newly recorded interview footage, which is nevertheless hampered significantly by Marsh's own directorial tendencies towards the garish, literal, and sentimental. There is some wannabe-Morris schtick at its worst here.

Pretty much agree. His Morris aping worked wonders for Man on Wire, but here it too often felt out of place or over-the-top, attempting to add weight and gravitas to every interview, nearly every moment.

[Boner M]

Hugo - mild yay

[Winston*]

Jane Eyre - Yay

Thought Fassbender was miscast, but otherwise a pretty strong adaptation. Funny to watch the filmmakers dance around the racism and misogyny associated with the Bertha Mason plot.

[Ezee E]

Phew. Updated y'all.

[Ivan Drago]

I thought I voted on this already. . .

Hugo - Nay

[Kurosawa Fan]

The Descendants - yay

[TGM]

The Help - Yay

[eternity]

Extremely Autistic and Incredibly 9/11 - nay

[EyesWideOpen]

Phew. Updated y'all.

Stuff of mine you didn't update:

The Black Power Mixtape - yay
The Four Times - nay
The Future - nay
Pariah - yay
Restless - yay

New addition:
Paranormal Activity 3 - yay

[eternity]

Insidious - nay

[Spinal]

I should have a yay for Breillat's Sleeping Beauty. If you're still updating.

[EyesWideOpen]

Cars 2 - mild nay

It's still better then Tintin.

[Weeping_Guitar]

Take Shelter - yay
The Rum Diary - yay

[Dukefrukem]

Are we still doing this? Thought the cutoff was the MC Noms.

[Spinal]

Are we still doing this? Thought the cutoff was the MC Noms.

Ezee is welcome to update it as long as he wants. It's just not going to be stickied anymore.

[Boner M]

Like Crazy - nay

[Raiders]

I probably will never actually say anything of importance on these (I've enjoyed my month rest from posting), but for the heck of it:

Martha Marcy May Marlene - nay
Carnage - nay
The Adventures of Tintin - MILD yay

[Boner M]

I probably will never actually say anything of importance on these
A brief word on MMMM would be nice for the CUT part of the top 20 countdown.

[Raiders]

A brief word on MMMM would be nice for the CUT part of the top 20 countdown.

Holy crap... I'm the only one??? Uh ok, I'll come back with some thoughts.

[Boner M]

Holy crap... I'm the only one??? Uh ok, I'll come back with some thoughts.
Granted, only a few of the 'yays' seemed to be big ones.

[Spinal]

Holy crap... I'm the only one???

I said 'yay', but I am not at all offended by your 'nay'. It could have been so much better.

[Pop Trash]

Granted, only a few of the 'yays' seemed to be big ones.

It sat well with me. Particularly for a younger, first time filmmaker.

[Pop Trash]

Like Crazy - nay

I'm going to assume this was as bad as it looked?

[NickGlass]

Project Nim: minor yay

[Boner M]

I'm going to assume this was as bad as it looked?
"-I love Paul Simon.
-Graceland is my favorite album.
-Me too!"

It establishes their relationship through little more than a few trivial commonalities and longing stares and soft piano keys, then proceeds to pretend that the world depends on them staying together. WTF Sundance jury (won over Take Shelter, MMMM, etc).

[Sycophant]

Uncle Boonmee - yay
The Help - nay

And two that might've been missed before:
The Artist - yay
The Ides of March - nay

[Pop Trash]

It establishes their relationship through little more than a few trivial commonalities and longing stares and soft piano keys, then proceeds to pretend that the world depends on them staying together. WTF Sundance jury (won over Take Shelter, MMMM, etc).

As my dad would say, "sounds like one to miss."

[Dukefrukem]

ANOTHER EARTH - nay

couple of catch ups..

CONTAGION is YAY (you have me as Nay)
Final Destination 5 is YAY
I SAW THE DEVIL is YAY
SKIN I LIVE IN is YAY

[transmogrifier]

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo - mild yay

Exquisite cinematic craft (especially sound design and editing) married to a mystery that would have been thrown out of the CSI writers room on first reading.

[Thirdmango]

moneyball -- yay
drive -- mild yay
life in a day -- yay

[Pop Trash]

Margaret- yay

What a fascinating, messy movie. Paquin did a great job.

[baby doll]

A Screaming Man - yay

[Lucky]

Take Shelter - Yay

[Rowland]

If a Tree Falls: A Story of the Earth Liberation Front - minor yay

I'm the first? It isn't terribly compelling in strictly cinematic terms, even approaching tacky in its thankfully minimal use of cheaply stylized reenactment footage, but as journalistically-minded, albeit with an obvious liberal bent, documentary filmmaking is concerned, this is a fairly rigorous, evenhanded effort that is further imbued with a great deal of relevance in the wake of the waning occupy movement. It's a shame then that this is just a little too sleepy and inert in its tone, but not enough so to ruin the whole.

[Boner M]

A Separation - yay

[MadMan]

Midnight In Paris-Yay. This might be my #1 of the year, but I'm not sure. It was great.

[Rowland]

Martha Marcy May Marlene - mild yay

[Spinal]

Martha Marcy May Marlene - mild yay

Join the club. :)

[baby doll]

A Separation - yay

[EyesWideOpen]

Project Nim - Yay

[Kurosawa Fan]

We Need to Talk About Kevin - Nay

[Dukefrukem]

EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE - F@@K NO

[Ezee E]

:lol:

Gonna officially stop tabulating today. Box office results to be part of the awards ceremony.

[Spinal]

How the hell is Pina sitting at 3 of 6? Goddamit, Match Cut. Sometimes you bewilder me.

[Weeping_Guitar]

Puss in Boots - nay

[Kurosawa Fan]

EXTREMELY LOUD & INCREDIBLY CLOSE - F@@K NO


Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close(Slade, 2005) 82

I is confused, Duke.

[Derek]

I is confused, Duke.

Either he means Hard Candy or he's using the Madman scale where an 82 is a *1/2.

[Kurosawa Fan]

Either he means Hard Candy or he's using the Madman scale where an 82 is a *1/2.

Hard Candy is listed separately in his sig, so it must be the latter.

[Rowland]

Guys, he clearly didn't label Extremely Loud as being released in the same year as Hard Candy, directed by the same person, and given the same numerical score, on purpose. Please, no need to make an issue out of an obvious error.

[Spinal]

Please, no need to make an issue out of an obvious error.

Now we have a bigger issue. 82 for Hard Candy? Ew.

[Rowland]

Take Shelter - Big YAY

[Derek]

Now we have a bigger issue. 82 for Hard Candy? Ew.

Heh, that is a problem.

[dreamdead]

Weekend - yay

Great demonstration of the multiplicity of gay perspectives, sexually tender, and politically riveting. I hope to find more of a directorial stamp on the work as I think about it, but it it's one of the best of the year, regardless.

[B-side]

I didn't think this was being updated anymore, but if it is, mark me down as a nay for Young Adult.

[eternity]

I didn't think this was being updated anymore, but if it is, mark me down as a nay for Young Adult.

You're a monster.

[B-side]

You're a monster.

I liked Patton Oswalt a lot, though.